Malik has been involved with a number of
long-term studies into the way diet drinks affect the human body. The findings
of her work suggest that, while weight gain is commonplace over time, drinking
diet sodas can lead to less weight gain compared to drinking regular sugared
beverages. And she hasn't observed positive associations between diet sodas and
diabetes.
However, there are still many holes in the scientific literature surrounding all artificial sweeteners, she said. "The question that hasn't been answered is what is the lifetime impact of consuming these artificial sweeteners?" That explains why she doesn't agree with the way in which diet sodas are marketed currently to consumers. "Drinking water is definitely going to be your best option because it doesn't have this intense sweet flavor that we're worrying about," she said. "I wouldn't consider [diet beverages] the healthy option."
The lawsuits aren't the first time beverage companies have come under fire for their labeling of diet sodas. In 2015, food-industry watchdog U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking the department to stop Pepsi and Coca-Cola from using the word "diet" to label and market their products, and to conduct a "sweeping investigation of products containing artificial sweeteners" to determine whether any brand labels are false or misleading. The FDA recently denied the petition on grounds that the requests "are outside the scope of our citizen-petition regulations."
The lawsuits are still in the early stages of
litigation, but Melamed is hopeful that the cases, if successful, could set an
important new benchmark in how the food industries, especially bottled-beverage
companies, market their products. "Our expectations are that this will
lead to more significant changes across the industry," he said.
Others are more circumspect about the prospect of going up against three behemoths of the bottled-beverage industry. While the lawsuits are "strong" on the law and on the facts, said Ruskin, "sadly in America right now, that doesn't necessarily get you too far."
Daniel Ross is a Los Angeles-based journalist whose work has appeared in AlterNet, The Guardian, Fair Warning, Newsweek, and a number of other publications.
However, there are still many holes in the scientific literature surrounding all artificial sweeteners, she said. "The question that hasn't been answered is what is the lifetime impact of consuming these artificial sweeteners?" That explains why she doesn't agree with the way in which diet sodas are marketed currently to consumers. "Drinking water is definitely going to be your best option because it doesn't have this intense sweet flavor that we're worrying about," she said. "I wouldn't consider [diet beverages] the healthy option."
The lawsuits aren't the first time beverage companies have come under fire for their labeling of diet sodas. In 2015, food-industry watchdog U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking the department to stop Pepsi and Coca-Cola from using the word "diet" to label and market their products, and to conduct a "sweeping investigation of products containing artificial sweeteners" to determine whether any brand labels are false or misleading. The FDA recently denied the petition on grounds that the requests "are outside the scope of our citizen-petition regulations."
The agency's reasoning for the denial is
"so weak," said Gary Ruskin, founder and co-director of USRTK.
"It was plainly just an effort to avoid protecting public health."
That's because the weight of the scientific literature contradicts the way
"diet" sodas are widely marketed as healthy alternatives to regular
sugary drinks, he said. "Evidence only keeps getting stronger and
stronger. We think this could be one of the greatest consumer frauds of modern
times."
Others are more circumspect about the prospect of going up against three behemoths of the bottled-beverage industry. While the lawsuits are "strong" on the law and on the facts, said Ruskin, "sadly in America right now, that doesn't necessarily get you too far."
Daniel Ross is a Los Angeles-based journalist whose work has appeared in AlterNet, The Guardian, Fair Warning, Newsweek, and a number of other publications.
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